LISBURN 3XV (12) – v – CITY of ARMAGH 4XV (14)

City of Armagh fourth fifteen travelled to Lisburn on Saturday in a rich vein of form having not tasted defeat so far this season. The conditions for rugby could not have been better with the sun shining down on the Lisburn soil.

Armagh who lost the toss had to kick off and did not get off to the best start. The Lisburn lads attacked and for the largest part of it the Armagh defence stood strong. A gap in the Armagh rearguard saw a great run by the full-back towards the line. The hosts had a man over and touched down in the corner. The conversion attempt from the sideline struck the upright and bounced back in field.

Armagh were trailing their opponents by five points inside the first ten minutes and things went from bad to worse when our own full-back, John Johnston had to depart the field due to injury.

Indeed Armagh could have conceded a second try only for a few last ditch tackles by winger Colm Campbell and makeshift replacement full back, Gareth Graham who between them managed to quell the initial attack and hold the ball up over the line.

From the resulting scrum Armagh made inroads up the field through a few successive picks by Number Eight, Joe Clarke and fellow back row player, Andrew Pogue saw Armagh break into the Lisburn half of the field for the first time in the encounter.

A couple of blistering runs from centres, Michael O’Neill and Timothy McBride was enough to get Armagh inside the Lisburn 22m line and from there it was easy for McBride who resisted the efforts of a few Lisburn players to navigate his way across the whitewash. The conversion was added by David Loughran to give Armagh a narrow lead.

In what was already a physical encounter Armagh had incurred their second injury of the game, this time to Stuart Agnew to a suspected dislocated knee. A quick re-shuffle of the Armagh team seemed to sort things out and Armagh picked up where he left off attacking the Lisburn line.

Armagh were rewarded with a penalty shortly afterwards as a result of the Lisburn lads persistent indiscipline at the ruck. Armagh opted to go for the posts with the penalty just outside the 22m line. The kick was narrowly missed by Loughran and the referee blew his whistle signalling the end of the first half.

Half Time Score: Lisburn 3XV (05) – v – City of Armagh 4XV (07)

Unfortunately the second half started much like the first half with Lisburn running in for their second try of the afternoon within minutes of the play resuming. A ball was kicked deep down field and knocked-on. From the scrum the ball was run through a few players and a quick switch play saw the Lisburn centre in for their second try of the day under the posts. This one was successfully converted to return the lead to the hosts.

The Armagh forwards continued to gain ground in the opposition half, replacement Robert Nicholl in particular was causing the Lisburn lads all sorts of problems. The Armagh set-pieces were amazing all afternoon with Adam Hume stealing countless balls at the lineouts.

The lads patiently kept chipping away at the Lisburn defence and they were rewarded for their efforts. Just inside the opposition 22m line in front of the left hand post there was a ruck formed with Joe Clarke forming one of the pillars. Clarke spotted an opening, picked he ball from the bottom of the ruck and proceeded to spin through the Lisburn defence and run in for Armagh’s second try. The conversion was added by Loughran to give Armagh a narrow two point lead once more going into the final fifteen minutes of the encounter.

Both sides were desperate not to lose this game and fought tooth and nail to the bitter end. It was the hosts who looked better value for the win, however this Armagh team refused to lie down and their defence was impeccable.

The lads saw out a nervous final five minutes to record their fifth win on the bounce and remain in the driving seat to win the Southern section of the Ulster Rugby Minor Leagues with just a single game remaining.

Armagh 4XV have a hectic few weeks coming up, first up the lads will make the short trip across to Chambers Park in Portadown next weekend for the highly anticipated derby match against Portadown 4XV.

The following week will see them in McCambley Cup action with their opponents yet to be decided with the draw scheduled to take place on Tuesday night.

This young team continues to go from strength to strength, they have a gritty determination in them and have shown they are prepared to die with their boots on and fight to the bitter end. No doubt this is something that will be equally as visible through the coming two weekends.

Team (1-15): A.McClenaghan, G. Graham, A. Fletcher, P. Chapman, N. McKee, A. Hume, A. Pogue, J. Clarke, R. Crozier, S. Agnew, C. Campbell, T. McBride, M. O’Neill, D. Loughran ©, J. Johnston.
Replacements: R. Nicholl, M. Kilic, R. Davidson.